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During this golden era of Galveston's history, the city was home to a number of state firsts that include: the first post office (1836), the first naval base (1836), the first Texas chapter of a Masonic order (1840), the first cotton compress (1842), the first parochial school (Ursuline Academy) (1847), the first insurance company (1854), the first gas lights (1856), first Roman Catholic ...
Sep 22, 2024 · Galveston, city, seat (1838) of Galveston county, southeastern Texas, U.S., 51 miles (82 km) southeast of Houston. It is a major deepwater port on the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, at the northeast end of Galveston Island, which extends along the Texas coast for about 30 miles (48 km), separating Galveston Bay and West Bay from the Gulf of Mexico.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Galveston (/ ˈ ɡ æ l v ɪ s t ən / GAL-vis-tən) is a coastal resort city and port off the Southeast Texas coast on Galveston Island and Pelican Island in the U.S. state of Texas. The community of 211.31 square miles (547.3 km 2 ), with a population of 53,695 at the 2020 census , [ 6 ] is the county seat of surrounding Galveston County and second-largest municipality in the county.
- Pirates
- Immigration
- Wall Street of The South
- The Birthplace of Juneteenth
Later visitors included corsairs, like the French Jean Lafitte, who built the small colony of Campeche in 1817. Ever the privateer, he used this as a base to raid Spanish merchant ships that passed through the Gulf. He fled after a decade, burning down the community he built (his treasures are rumored to be buried on the Island).
Founded in 1838, Galveston established prosperity through a natural deep-water port, expansion of trade routes throughout the region, and development of industry, such as cotton, in the decades leading up to the Great Storm of 1900. The people of Galveston Island would find themselves as a fundamental piece of the state and region's growth and dive...
In 1836, Canadian fur trader Michel B. Menard purchased seven square miles of land, which became the City of Galveston. It was the same year Texas gained independence from Mexico and became a republic. Other great changes followed, business flourished, and Galveston became a major U.S. commercial center and one of the largest ports in the United St...
Juneteenth is a national holiday that signifies the celebration of the end of slavery for southern slaves in Galveston two years after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed. This historic event holds a special place in the United States and African American history, but the richness of Juneteenth or June 19, 1865 goes well beyond celebrating Ema...
The City of Galveston was chartered in 1839. The role of Galveston as the principal port and gateway to the Southwest during the 19th Century has placed the entire city in a unique position in relation to the history of Texas. The city furnished shipping, goods, money, and transportation necessary to settle the state, nurture its trade, and ...
At the time of the 1900 Storm, Galveston had a population of 37,000 and was the fourth largest city in Texas following Houston, Dallas and San Antonio. One-third of the city was completely destroyed, more than 3,600 buildings. More than 6,000 people were killed – so many, in fact, that the bodies were too numerous for conventional burials.
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The Founding of Galveston and Its Growth as a Major Port. In the 1830s, Galveston began to transform from a pirate’s haven into a legitimate settlement. After Texas gained its independence from Mexico in 1836, Michel Menard, a French-Canadian entrepreneur, purchased land on the island and officially founded the city of Galveston in 1839.
